Review Summary: Veil of Maya keeps it chuggy, keeps it proggy, but also keeps it short..
And we're off! The year of metal begins (late, I know) but in stunning fashion. Well, at least metal that I am concerned about.. but moving on! Veil of Maya puts forth their sophomore effort from Sumerian
[id] to give metal in 2010 a promising start.
For all of you non-psychology majors out there, "id" refers to the third portion of the human psyche according to Sigmond Freud's model, alongside the ego and super-ego. The "id" portion of the psyche contains instinct and impulse, and as we grow up, influences the ego and super-ego. The id is responsible for our basic drives (food, water, sex, etc.). It is said to be amoral and selfish. But the music of Veil of Maya's
[id] seem to explore more - lyrics on the very first track "Unbreakable" seem to ask the listener to look for more, to believe in one's self and stand up for that belief. I would go so far as to say that the album criticizes society, other people, or whomever, for allowing the "id" portion of their brains to overtake the rest, thus allowing one to ignore love, faith, belief, and etc.
The album was produced by Michael Keene, who also produced
The Common Man's Collapse, and the sound is distinct VoM. Crushing tone and plenty of chugga-chug make for the classic VoM tone we all know and (perhaps) love. The production quality however is a bit better then their previous album - everything is mixed together much more nicely, and the vocals blend better with the music. Too many heavy bands today (and bands in general) put the vocals way out in the mix, and it becomes annoying and sometimes distracting to the sound of the band as a whole. The relationship and mix between the guitar and drums is very very tight, which is perfect for all of the off-time and odd-time breakdowns occurring throughout the record.
Vocalist Brandon Butler impressed me the most on this album. Although the guitar is usually the focus, and the guitar-drums combo make up the meat of the songs, Butler's rhythm and placement works great with the complicated prog breakdowns that are happening behind him, and his lyrics are awesome. They are mature, and really include material relative to the subject - this really is an ALBUM. All of the songs work well together, they all seem to portray the same idea, this discussion of the human psyche and the state it is in today.
Overall, I love the record. I for one am a huge fan of albums that sound like ALBUMS, not just a collection of songs, and [id] is pretty much that. However, I only have two complaints - the first being the shortness of the CD. It clocks in at only 29:09 with a total of 11 tracks. Related to that, I am left feeling a bit awkward by the musical interludes within the CD. The music within them individually is really cool, but I wish they blended better with the songs around them. I wish the band expanded more on the ideas, and didn't limit them to only one minute or so of interlude. If the band had only included the "song" parts of the album, we might be looking at a CD only 25 minutes long. Perhaps there's a bit too much filler in there.
But as I said, an awesome effort from Chicago's finest. (Yeah, that's right all you Born of Osiris fans, I said it!) and a great way to start out 2010.
